After the abandonment of Mokarta, the high ground of Mount Polizo (a naturally fortified relief that rises to 713 m dominating the surrounding territory) was occupied.

The first excavations carried out in 1970 by Vincenzo Tusa (Soprintendenza alle Antichità di Palermo) brought to light the testimonies of an indigenous settlement of the archaic age. More recent research, in the area of the acropolis, has made it possible to identify traces of houses and a circular building, probably for religious purposes, as evidenced by the presence of numerous charred bone remains and pottery used for libations. Mount Polizo can therefore be considered an indigenous settlement of the ethnic group of elimi that developed during the archaic Greek age (VI-V sec. B.C.) maintaining commercial relations with the Punic and Greek centers of the coast, as attested by the imported pottery found during the investigation. The relief was reoccupied in medieval times. At the beginning of 1998, scholars from the Universities of Gothenburg (Sweden), Stanford (USA) and OSLO (Norway) undertook a research project, which is still in progress, in collaboration with Prof. Tusa and the Superintendence of BB.CC.AA. of Trapani.